Alignment of Targets and Flyers for Plate Impact Experiments

Author(s):

David R. Ayers, Steven T. Davis, and Scott A. Turnage

Abstract:

Plate impact experiments require that the two interacting surfaces, target and flyer, must be held parallel to very tight tolerances. Using a low-power (<5 mW) laser, flat mirrors, and some simple geometry, the following alignment method is a fast, simple, and reliable means of achieving alignments within the tolerance of less than 5 mrad. The adoption of these techniques has led to a sharp decrease in time needed for alignment and an improvement of the measured tilt compared with previous methods.